I never thought love would be this complicated!
by Alice of Stars
Summary: It took Matthew a whole century to realize how he feels about Alfred, but now that they're older, the words will be much harder for him to say. Will he be able to boost up enough courage to tell Alfred how he feels about him before it's too late?
1. Prologue

Matthew waited through the night. He almost fell into the comforting clutches of his dreams a few times, but the sounds of gunshots and the thought of his brother always jerked him back into consciousness. He was so worried about

Alfred. He was out there on the battlefield now, fighting. Matthew thought that thirteen was too young to be wielding a gun the way he was, but Alfred was prepared to do just about anything to achieve his independence.

As the sun was coming up, and he was ready to fear the worst, a silhouette rose up from the horizon.

"Alfred?" Matthew asked, standing up.

"Mattie," the shadow called faintly.

"Alfred!" Matthew called out, running to meet him. Matthew hugged the battered boy, sobbing, "Alfred!"

"Mattie," Alfred croaked, collapsing in his brother's arms. Matthew fell backwards onto the ground under him. He sat up, pulling his brother with him. He looked into Alfred's weary, cerulean eyes before taking in all the cuts and bruises on him.

"Al...," Matthew sobbed, clasping the older boy's hand in his own.

"Mattie," Alfred whispered with a small smile, "We won, Mattie."

Matthew smiled through his tears, pulling Alfred into a tight hug, "Of course you did, Alfred."

_**A/N **__Ooooh! Ominous cliffhanger!_ _What a short prologue_.

_Okay guys, this is my first time publishing a story on FF! I'm not the best writer. Please review and tell me what you think! I'll try to update as soon as I can~! _

_Alice_


	2. A family gathering?

Matthew awoke abruptly from his dream when his alarm clock went off and his

bear poked him continuously until the pestering gesture finally became so annoying he forced himself out of bed. He grabbed his glasses off his bedside table before scooping up his furry bear companion and heading downstairs.

"Alright, Kumatarou," he said to the bear as he set him on the kitchen counter,

"It's early enough for pancakes, but you could also have Cheerios, you know."

The bear stuck out his tongue at the suggestion. "Pancakes!" He called out in his childlike voice.

Matthew yawned, putting on an apron he used in the kitchen, "I figured you'd say that. I don't understand how you're even still alive after all the pancakes you eat. It can't be good for your health." He turned on the stove and put a skillet on one burner and a pot of homemade maple syrup on another while he whipped up some pancake batter. He poured it onto the shiny metal skillet and watched all the bubbles in the batter pop while he thought about the dream he'd had last night. It had been quite a while since he thought of the day he almost lost his twin brother. It still gave him shivers, the look on Arthur's face that day. He could've almost believed he was actually going to kill Alfred. This day was one day he'd never forget, no matter how much he'd rather NOT think about.

That day in the September of 1783 was probably the only time he'd seen that much pain in his family.

His thoughts were interrupted when the little bear once again asked, "Who're you?"

Matthew patted the forgetful bears head and sighed, "I'm Canada."

"Canada," the bear said, his nose crinkling, "the pancakes."

Matthew turned back to the stove to that the pancake he had on the skillet was burning, emanating a rather undelightful odor. He gagged, flipping the burnt clump off the skillet and into the trashcan.

"Sorry Kumajiro," he said apologetically to the pouting bear as he poured more batter, "I guess I'm just a little distracted this morning." He waited a minute before flipping it over and letting the other side cook. After it turned a dark brown he put it on a plate and started another. When he thought that Matthew wasn't looking, the little bear tried to snatch the pancake off the plate. "Uh uh uh!" Matthew said, slapping his paw with the spatula, "You need to wait till it cools down, Mr." The bear sat back down with a huff of impatience. Matthew flipped the second pancake onto the plate, then starting a third. Kumajiro sat, licking his paws while he waited. By the time Matthew was flipping the sixth pancake onto the plate, the little bear was barely able to keep his paws away from the plate.

"Done?" The little bear asked.

"Yup!" Matthew said cheerfully, placing the plate on the table. Kumajiro was

about to start eating when Matthew called out, "Wait!" The bear's face fell,

"You can't forget about the syrup." Matthew poured the hot thick liquid from pot into a little jug for serving. He picked up the plate and poured the syrup over it and was about to set it down in front of his friend when the phone rang.

Matthew picked it up and answered, "Hello?"

A familiar voice rang loudly into Matthew's ear, "Bonjour, mon petit cheri!"

Matthew pulled the phone a bit away. "Hi, Papa."

"How've you been Mattiue?" He continued without giving him a second to answer,

"Listen mon petit cheri, I know it's of short notice, but Arthur wanted to know if you'd come and stay in London for the two weeks before the next world meeting."

"What? Me?" Matthew questioned, "Why me?"

Francis laughed, "Ahaha! You sound so alarmed, cheri! Non, non, not just you.

He wants Alfred and me to stay too."

"What?" Matthew squeaked, "Are all of us in trouble?"

Francis laughed more before replying, "Non, mon cher! No one's in trouble!

Arthur is trying to get us together for some kind of ridiculous family thing!"

Matthew could hear him cracking up on his end.

"Oh... by the way, why are you calling me?" Matthew wondered, "I thought you two weren't on... good terms."

"Ah, the imbecile lost your phone number when his old phone fell into the English Channel." France laughed into the phone.

"Oh..." Matthew said a little disappointed that it wasn't because they were mending their broken relationship. "Well, um... what day exactly?"

"Next Sunday."

Matthew went to check his calendar. For the better or for the worst, he had no plans."Well... I'm free."

"That's great! I was afraid it'd be just me and Arthur."

"Alfred isn't going?"

"No need to sound so disapointed... we don't know, he won't answer his phone when we call."

"Ah..." He felt a tug on the bottom of his PJ pants. He looked down; a hungry little bear looked back up at him. "Well it was nice talking, Papa, but could I call you about this later?"

"Oui, call me later and we'll figure the rest out. Revior, Matthew."

"Bye Papa." Matthew hung up the phone and noticed the pancakes had gotten cold.

He sighed and put them in the microwave, setting it to 45 seconds.

Kumajiro climbed up his leg, whining, "Hungry!"

"Just a little longer, Kumatarou." Matthew said, picking him up and putting him back on the table. The microwave rang and Matthew took the plate out, pouring more syrup onto it as penance for the wait. As he was about to place it on the table, the phone rang again. Matthew picked it up, answering with a weary,

"Hello?"

"Matthew?" A particularly British voice asked.

Matthew smiled, "Good morning, Arthur."

"Hello, Love, did Francis call you already?"

"Yeah, I have no plans, so I'd love to stay."

"Oh, swell!" Arthur said happily.

"Hungry!" the little bear complained. Matthew set the plate in front of him putting a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture.

"Oh, there's just one thing, Arthur." Matthew said with a sigh, "You remember the little polar bear that I keep? I don't really have anyone to watch him."

"Ah," Arthur replied, understandingly, "well, since this was of short notice, the least I can do is suggest you bring him with you. He's house-trained?"

"Of course! Thank you, Arthur!" Matthew said gratefully as he patted the bear's head.

"Oh, one last thing." Arthur sighed, "Could you call your brother. He won't answer the phone when Francis or I call because he thinks it means work. And since I know he has no plans, tell him that if he doesn't come, I'll grind his bones to make my bread."

"Oh...kay then." Matthew said shaking his head.

"Right, I appreciate it, Love. I'll see you soon."

"Bye..." Matthew said, hanging up. He looked over at Kumajiro and discovered he'd eaten every last bit of all six pancakes, not leaving any for Matthew. "Maple! You really were hungry!"

The bear answered with a belch and said, "Bye-bye, pancakes."

_**A/N **__Why do I always end in such odd places? Because I'm lazy. _

_Alright, sorry to disappoint you guys who thought this story was gonna be set in the revolutionary war period, but that was just a dream/memory. I'm working on a story with these two set back then, though I probably won't publish it for a while. Yay! Be happy, there's going to be a dysfunctional FACE family gathering soon! But first Mattie has to endure an awkward phone conversation with Alfred. DUN DUN DUN. Pfft. Okay guys, I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can! And thank you all for the reviews and favs! It really boosts my motivation! Review, review, review! _

_Alice_

_(Dang, that was a long author's note.)_


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